HuskerTrucker Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 Nebraska lands two recruits By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 - 09:50:33 pm CDT There was almost eight weeks of silence and surely a little angst out there about Husker recruiting, but Thursday may have more than made up for the wait. After not landing a commit since Aug. 22, the Huskers made a big splash on Thursday, with news coming of two commitments. And one of those just happens to be one of the top-rated linebackers in the country. The 6-foot, 230-pound Chris Williams, from Abilene, Texas, told his prep coach Steve Warren on Thursday morning he was ready to commit, taking the Huskers over about 40 other scholarship offers on the table. “Gosh, just a great player,” Warren said. “He was the Class 5A defensive player of the year in the state of Texas as a junior. That should tell you all need to know.” Williams’ announcement came within 24 hours of a commitment from J.T. Kerr, a 6-foot-4, 230-pound tight end from Scripps Ranch High School in San Diego. The two commitments give NU 14 known verbal commits for its 2009 class. Williams runs the 40 in 4.5 seconds and is rated as a four-star player, the No. 13 inside linebacker in the country by Rivals.com. He is reported to bench 345 pounds, squat 550 and have a vertical leap of 29 inches. More importantly, he finished his junior season for a 13-2 team with 90 tackles, 32 of them for loss. He had 13 sacks, forced three fumbles and recovered two. Through seven games this year, he has 45 tackles and three blocked punts. “Very instinctive player,” Warren said. “He’s around the football all the time.” Some of the teams that had offered include LSU, Oklahoma, Missouri, Oregon, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tennessee. … Warren said NU offensive line coach Barney Cotton was a lead recruiter on Williams. Cotton and Warren know each other well because Cotton’s been recruiting Abilene since his days of coaching at New Mexico State (1997-2002). It also didn’t hurt that Williams liked what he saw out of Bo Pelini’s LSU defenses. The seventh commit out of Texas in this Husker class, Williams visited Nebraska for the Missouri game. Warren said Williams came back from Lincoln with nothing but good things to say. “The thing that put them over the top was he really wants to be a part of that process that’s going on there and when they’re playing for a national title in four or five years or however long,” Warren said. “He wanted to be a part of building something special.” With his commitment on Wednesday night, Kerr became the first tight end in this class and the first commit since before the football season started. Ron Brown was the lead Husker recruiter on Kerr, who’s rated a three-star player by Rivals.com. Kerr transferred to Scripps Ranch High School in January, the offense there perhaps better highlighting his skills than that of his previous school, which operated more of a wing-T running offense. “He’s one of those guys, he’s just a hard worker. He’s been able to really kind of assimilate into our offense very quickly,” Scripps Ranch head coach Sergio Diaz said. “He’s really able to get to the third level and get past linebackers and start going against DBs. And sizewise, he’s going to outmatch any DB out there. He gives us that extra element coming from the middle of the field.” Kerr has had a shoulder injury that’s kept him out a couple weeks, but Diaz said the tight end is mostly recovered and hopefully will even play some this week. Scripps Ranch is in Division II, the second-highest classification of California high school football. Kerr would join an already healthy crop of young tight ends at Nebraska. And Williams would join a Blackshirts’ tradition — whenever it returns — that he’s already accustomed to. Apparently, Abilene has been calling its defense the Blackshirts for about 10 years now. “He’s excited about that, too,” Warren said with a laugh. “I don’t know if that came into the decision process.” We really need help at LB, so this is good news! Quote Link to comment
huskered17 Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 I can't wait to see this defense in a couple of years. GBR!!! Quote Link to comment
SkullandBones Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 good, good, and more good. Quote Link to comment
Nalow Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 Keep bringing 'em in... Quote Link to comment
HSKRNOKC Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 Moved to correct forum. Quote Link to comment
huskerfantim Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 chris williams looks like he is going to be a beast at LB. Quote Link to comment
BIGREDIOWAN Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 Can you imagine Chris Williams and Will Compton together in the linebacking corps? It's coming back boys, I can feel it! Quote Link to comment
austintxhusker Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 I've seen this Williams play. He is a mean motherf***er. Quote Link to comment
BIGREDIOWAN Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 I've seen this Williams play. He is a mean motherf***er. This is what I wanted to hear. Quote Link to comment
The Maudfather Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 I've seen this Williams play. He is a mean motherf***er. This is what I wanted to hear. BRI, youtube his game film...he is a stud and he can lay the wood! I can't wait to see this guy playing on Saturdays! Quote Link to comment
BIGREDIOWAN Posted October 18, 2008 Share Posted October 18, 2008 I've seen this Williams play. He is a mean motherf***er. This is what I wanted to hear. BRI, youtube his game film...he is a stud and he can lay the wood! I can't wait to see this guy playing on Saturdays! I just did and this kid has phenomenal closing speed! He's a great pick-up for the Huskers and will play almost immediately IMO. Quote Link to comment
HSKRNOKC Posted October 18, 2008 Share Posted October 18, 2008 The guy is just a complete wrecking crew on the field. Quote Link to comment
huzkerbob Posted October 19, 2008 Share Posted October 19, 2008 Anyone know if he might possibly enroll for the spring? If it's an option for him, then immediate playing time might be in the cards! Quote Link to comment
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